Feeding Toddlers at Bedtime Makes them Obese

US-based journal Pediatrics has reported a study indicating that toddlers given milk at bedtime are likelier to become obese and end up overweight when they grow older. The US researchers who tracked the weight of almost 7,000 children found that those who were regularly fed a bottle of milk at the age of two were 30 percent more likely to be overweight by the time they turned five-and-a-half. The indications are that parents who continue bottle-feeding children at an age when they have started eating solid foods are actually overfeeding them. The researchers explained that an 8oz bottle of full-fat milk contains 150 calories, which is 12 percent of the energy a child aged between one and two needs in a day. Mothers are, therefore, advised to wean their babies off either breast milk or formula milk from the age of six months.